1915 Rewound
– Poetry by Samuel Armen –
Dedicated to Vahe Mkrtchyan.
Pools of pinks condense in darkened red
Snakes which swim upstream, searching for their Homes.
They burrow in the broken-bodied bones,
in all the wounds, deep in all the wounded
Bodies – one by one – which flail out the rivers
like salmon, already caught by haunting men.
Children, the old, and women of varied years
begin to exist, gasp for life, and then,
what else could happen next? struggling, searching,
shaking, seeing sounds like wet fabric slashed
swallowed by screams, silenced by laughs slicing.
A mother, quick, spits the water back.
Is that really water that I see?
Her mouth begins to pray for life again…
About the Author – Samuel Armen
Samuel Armen was adopted from Gyumri, Armenia, raised by an Armenian-American family in New York, earned his BA in English Literature from St. John’s University, and completed his MA in Adolescent Education at Hunter College. He currently teaches and manages education programs in Brooklyn, NY and across rural Armenia. His debut poem ‘Intercom’ was shortlisted for The Raw Art Review’s ‘The Charles Bukowski Prize for Poetry’ and was published in their Winter 2020 edition along with his poems ‘Rooftop Junkie’ and ‘Waiter.’
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